Will history repeat? 1962 Lions still recall beating undefeated Packers on Thanksgiving

Imagine this. The Green Bay Packers, riding a 10-0 streak, arrive in Detroit to play in the annual Thanksgiving game.

The Lions were waiting. They're no pussycats, this bunch. They own a 8-2 record and their defensive front is one of the best in the game, if not THE best.

It's Thanksgiving, but it's not this Thanksgiving.

It was 1962.

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And the game is known as one of the biggest in Lions history.

Not Thanksgiving history, but franchise history.

The Lions were hungry that day. They sacked quarterback Bart Starr 11 times. Eleven. Intercepted him twice and recorded a safety for good measure.

That Thanksgiving the Lions handed the Packers their only loss of the season, a 26-14 drubbing, on national television.

It was the only game the Packers would lose that season.

Does this all sound a little familiar? On Thursday the 7-3 Lions will host the 10-0 Packers hoping to wreck their chances for a perfect season.

The Lions are more than a little hungry. Their bellies are rumbling. After seven years of losing on Thanksgiving, they want a little redemption. If it's at the hands of a division opponent, all the better. If it's the Packers, the defending Super Bowl champs, that would be just dandy.

If it does, then gray-haired Matthew Stafford and Ndamukong Suh, might be called upon 49 years from now to recount the tale.

That's exactly what happened this week. Three members of that 1962 Lions team -- defensive tackle Roger Brown, Hall of Fame linebacker Joe Schmidt and wide receiver Gail Cogdill -- chatted about the day on a conference call.

Their memories are so clear you'd swear they played the game yesterday instead of 49 years ago on Nov. 22, 1962.

"It was a formidable team and we had respect for them and so forth, but we all felt we had a better football team,'' Schmidt said.

They had played and lost to the Packers 9-7 earlier that season at Green Bay.

"The first game we played, (quarterback) Milt Plum gets blamed for throwing the ball, but that came from upstairs to throw the ball,'' Schmidt said. "We were on our own 45-yard line it was third down and 7 we were winning 7-6.''

Because of the rain, the Lions' receiver slipped and the ball was intercepted which set up the game-winning field goal for the Packers.

"We always felt we were a better football team. I never to this day can prove that, because the Packers won the championship,'' Schmidt said.

That loss set up the Thanksgiving rematch.

"I know back in '62 we had a vendetta, we had a game to make up for. Green Bay came in undefeated. We gave them a gift up in Green Bay. We wanted to set the record straight. We had a vendetta against them and it was hard,'' Brown said.

They knew that loss should have never happened.

"When Thanksgiving finally came around it was like, 'Yeah it's here.' I remember that I never said a word the whole week,'' Cogdill said. "I don' think the offense did, or defense, they were working toward what it's going to take to do this.

"I remember when we got into the game, I always ran the square end patterns, the square out patterns, the comebacks and stuff, on the particular play that was called I just told Milt Plum I'm going straight. I believe the defense had really planned on me doing my cuts and stuff into the middle, I did it twice in a row I think we kind of caught them off-guard. I went to the sidelines and said, 'Yes, we've got it.' it's like when you're playing cards and you knew you had the best hand. It was an awesome feeling that we knew we could take Green Bay that day. ... to go from there and have it be remembered after all these years I think I played one of the great games and I enjoyed it,'' added Cogdill who had two touchdowns catches of 33 and 27 yards that Thanksgiving.

Still it's a game remembered more for the Lions' defensive whipping of Starr and the Packers' offense.

"Roger should be in the Hall of Fame but for some reason he's not. That particular day he was throwing those people around like toys. We had a defense set up by Don Shula who was our defensive coordinator,'' Schmidt said.

"They were a good football team, well coached but I think we were as good or better,'' he added.

Detroit's defense blitzed like it never had previously. Brown said it was all motivation.

"We did all kinds of nutty things, but we were determined to get to Bart Starr and I don't think the German Luftwaffe could have stopped us that day,'' Brown said.

Eleven sacks is a boatload even by today's standards.

"I don't think, 11 sacks in a game, I don't recall any place else in modern history as far as games at this particular time there was any team that had that type of impact on the offense of a football team that we did,'' Schmidt said. "It could be my statistics are wrong or my thinking is wrong but at this particular time that's how I feel about it.''

The defensive pressure caused the Packers' offense to lose its poise. And then the game.

Years later it's still a good Thanksgiving story -- for Lions' fans perhaps more than for Cheeseheads.

Will this year's game follow a similar path?

The old guys from 1962 still keep an eye on these Lions.

Does Brown consider Ndamukong Suh a dirty player?

"I'm going to tell you I'm proud of him and I'm proud that (Suh) plays that tackle spot. I could never get anybody to call me dirty when I played even if I threw dirt in someone's face,'' Brown said.

"A football player, especially on that defensive line, you're not playing tiddlywinks, this is football. As long as he doesn't try to break somebody's arm or pile on after the whistle blows, that's dirty.

"Suh is doing a heck of a job. I would like to have 22 of them on my team, call them all dirty. I'll tell you what we'd go right to the Super Bowl,'' Brown said.

On the other side of the ball, like the rest of the NFL, they've noticed a wide receiver named Calvin Johnson.

"I think what do you want to call it, he's an absolute stud. The guy is awesome. I think he's one of the great weapons the Lions have. ... He's the type of person if I was the quarterback I would have no problem throwing it to him all the time. He's a wonderful athlete,'' Cogdill said.

Schmidt takes it a step further.

"I'd throw the ball to him every down. He's phenomenal. He has the ability of a basketball player on a football field,'' Schmidt said. "He can jump, he has tremendous hands, he has tremendous ability to locate the football. He's got excellent speed, he looks like a pretty fast guy. His size is the big thing.''

Schmidt, Cogdill and Brown will be watching the Lions-Packers match-up between bites of turkey.

Will history repeat itself?

"I would say the Detroit Lions used to own the Thanksgiving Day game. I hope the new contingent will keep the ball rolling. They've got a lot of history there,'' Brown said. "... I'm sure with Suh and that whole crew ... I'm sure they'll do an outstanding job to keep the tradition going and we're pulling for them 100 percent.''

(Paula Pasche covers the Lions. Follow her on Twitter @PaulaPasche. Read her Lions Lowdown blog at oplions.blogspot.com. Get Lions news delivered directly to your phone by texting the keyword "Lions" to 22700. Msg & Data Rates May Apply. Text HELP for help. Text STOP to cancel.)